Postage stamping and recording apparatus.



T. M. BELKNAP. POSTAGE STAMPING AND RECORDING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 24, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

| lum l H llllll llllllllllm WW u h I IHWHHHH COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH (0., WASHINGTON, 0. c.

Patented Apr. 23, 1912.

M. BELKNAP. POSTAGE STAMPING AND RECORDING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 24, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH CO, WASHINGTON. D. c

Patented Apr. 23, 1912.

THOMAS M. BELKNAP,

OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

POSTAGE STAMPING AND RECORDING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 23, 1912.

Application filed September 24, 1910. Serial No. 583,699.

To all whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, THOMAS M. BELKNAP,

citizen of the United States, residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Postage Stamping and Recording Apparatus, 'of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for stamping postage upon letters and mailable parcels, and-has for its primary object to dispense with the employment of adhesive postage stamps, and in lieu thereof, to provide a stamping device which shall stamp the amount of the required postage upon the mailing matter and likewise indicate the amount so stamped.

Another object of the invention is to pro duce a device of this character provided with means whereby the actuation of the device shall be automatically stopped when a certain predetermined number of act-nations have been accomplished.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in certain novel features of construction which is herein shown and described and specifically pointed out in the claims.

The improved apparatus comprises" in general a stamping device and an indicating device which is operated by the stamping device so that each movement of the stamping device is indicated, means being provided whereby the mechanism is locked from further movement after a certain pre determined number of actuations have been made.

The improved device is inclosed in a casing provided with a suitable seal which is removable only by a proper government oflicial, so that the operator of the device is precluded from surreptitious access to the internal mechanism and thus prevented from resetting the machine after it has been actuated a predetermined number of times.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved device. Fig. 2 is an end-elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. a is a plan view in section on the line 4+4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a view of the stamping portion of the improved device on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawing by the same reference characters.

If the person who desires to use the ap paratus employs one denomination of stamps only, he will require but one of the devices, but if the person using the device requires postage of different values, a plurality of the devices will be necessary, but generally three only will be required, one for one cent postage; one for two cent postage, and one for five cent postage, as the various combinations of postage can generally be produced by machines representing these three stamp values. For instance, the device for one cent postage would be used only for one cent postage, whereas the device which is arranged for two cent postage could be readily employed for four, six, eight, and the like by simply multiplying the number of times which the stamp is actuated, and the same would be true of the device which is arranged for three cent postage, as this machine could be used for three, six, nine, etc., while the device arranged for five cent postage could be similarly employed for ten,

' fifteen, twenty, etc.

For the purpose of illustration a single apparatus is shown, as the devices are precisely alike except that the stamping or printing portion would be varied to correspond with different rates of postage.

The improved apparatus may be inclosed in a suitable casing 10, preferably of steel, and preferably formed with a supporting base 11, and with an opening 12 at one corner into which the corner of the mailing matter is inserted to receive the imprint denoting the amount of postage required. A door 13 is arranged in one side of the casing and protected by a suitable seal inclicated at 14, so that no person except the authorized official can have access to the interior of the device, the object to be hereafter more fully explained.

Located within the casing 10 immediately above the recess 12 is a stamping device, which may be of any suitable form and of any suitable mechanism, but for the purpose of illustration a conventional reversible inking and stamping device is shown and represented as a whole at 15, with the stamp containing the designating characters at 16. The characters may be arranged in any suitable manner, but preferably including the words Postage paid, U. S, together with the amount of the postage, for instance Two cents. The

word two will be changed to three, five, etc.,

as will be obvious for different devices when a plurality of devices are employed.

The depressing plunger for the stamp extends through the upper side of the casing 10 as shown at 16, and this is the only The front plate 17 which also forms in conjunction with the rear plate 17 the means for supporting the train of multiplying gears, hereafter to be described, is cut away at its front as at 17 a to permit the insertion 5 of a letter or like article through the slot 12 and to a position beneath the stamping mechanism. The rear plate 17, it will be seen, not only supports the stamping mechanism but also forms a stop for limiting the 0 inward. movement of the letter into the easing so as to properly position the letter with relation to the stamp. The side wall of the slot 17 formed in the front plate 17 also forms a means for limiting the inward 5 movement of the letter. It will thus be seen that a letter inserted through the slot 12 in the corner of the machine will be properly positioned by contacting with the rear wall 17 and the wall of the slot 17.

l Mounted within the casing is the mecha nism for limiting the number of actuations of the stamping device. This mechanism is preferably mounted upon and between the front and rear plates 17, previously re- 5 'ferred to.

Mounted for rotation between the frame plates 17 are shafts 18, 19 and 20. The shaft 20 is provided with a ratchet wheel 21 and a lantern pinion 22, while the shaft 19 is provided with a toothed gear 23 engaging with the pinion 22 and likewise provided with a lantern pinion 24 engaging with a toothed gear 25 on the shaft 18. The ratchet wheel 21, the pinions 22 and 2 1, and

the toothed gears and 25 constitute a recomplete rotation of the wheel 25'.

ducing train whereby the gear wheel 25 shall be caused to rotate a fraction of a revolution for each complete rotation of the wheel 21. The pinions and wheels are provided each with a certain predetermined number of teeth. The ratio of the diameters of the wheels and pinions to each other and the number of teeth will of course depend upon the number of actuations desiredto cause a Any desired reducing train may he used for the purpose of causing a fractional rotation of the wheel 25 upon an actuation of the lever 27 without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Pivoted at 26 to the frame 17 is a leverarm 27 which extends at its free end to a point near some movable portion of the stamping device 15, for instance the yokeframe 28. Connected to the frame 28 is a bracket 29 which includes spaced members bearing upon opposite sides of the lever-arm 27 near its free end, and provided with a suitable stop 30 at the upper end. The stop 30 is located some distance above the initial position of the lever-arm 27 so that the yoke 28 moves downwardly a considerable distance before it picks up the lever-arm 27, as hereafter explained. Pivoted at 31 to the lever-arm 27 is a pawl device 32 which engages with the teeth of the ratchet 21, the pawl being spring-supported as shown at 33. By this arrangement it will be observed that when the lever-arm 27 is depressed the pawl 32 will act upon the ratchet 21 and rotate the latter the distance of one of its teeth, and to prevent any return movement of the ratchet, a backing pawl 34 is connected to the frame 17 and yieldably supported by a spring 35. By this simple ar rangement it will be obvious that when the member 16 is depressed to produce the requisite stamping operation, the stop 30 will engage the lever arm 27 and actuate the ratchet and the train of gears.

Extending from the gear 25 is a pin 36 which partakes of the rotation of the gear, and connected to the frame 17 is a stop hook 37 with which the pin 36 engages when the wheel 25 has made one complete revolution. The stop hook 37 is made of wire and the upper end of the stop hook may therefore be shifted out of the path of movement of the pin 36 when it is desired to reset the mechanism.

The door 13 is opened by the proper offi cial and the gears arranged so that the pin 36 is located at the start-ing point, or just outside of the hooked stop 37, the door 13 being then closed and sealed and the stamping operation proceeded with, and each time that the member 16 is actuated an imprint is made upon the mail matter inserted into the recess, and at the same time the gears 21, 23 and 25 are actuated, and when'the member 16 has been actuated 100 times the pin 36 will have reached the hook 37 and all further operation of the device prevented, thus denoting that the capacity of the device has been exhausted. The owner of the machine is thus informed that he is indebted to the Government to the amount of postage represented by the stamp upon the machine multiplied by 100, and this payment may be in advance or after the operation of the machine is completed, as the government officials may determine. When it is desired to provide for a further actuation of the machine, the official whose business it is to reset the machine can shift the hook 37 from its engagement with the stop 36 and then bring the gear wheels to their initial position with the stop 36 just beyond the hook 37. It is to be noted that this is very easily accomplished by reason of the fact that the pawl 34 is spring-actuated and may be easily withdrawn from its engagement with the ratchet wheel 21 to permit a small reverse movement of the multiplying gear so as to remove the pin 36 from engagement with the hook, and that then the hook may be shifted to one side out of the path of movement of the pin 86 and the gear wheels shifted in their original direction until the pin 36 has moved past the hook, permitting the hook to be returned to its initial position. My mechanism, therefore, does not require that the gear wheels shall be reversed in their movements. This is a very important provision where the mechanism is provided with multiplying gear wheels permitting the actuation of the stamp, say one thousand or more times, as it would be extremely laborious to have to actuate the parts a sufficient length of time to bring the pin 36 back to its original position in a reverse direction. It will be seen, however, that the hook-shaped end of the member 37 prevents the mere insertion of an instrument into the case and the mere pushing back of the'stop out of engagement with the pin 36. It is necessary to depress the pawl 34, reverse the action of the gear wheels and then remove the stop before it is possible to reset the machine. At the same time, the construction is very simple and may be very cheaply and easily made.

The improved device'is simple in construction, can be manufactured any required size and adapted for any required amount of postage without change in the construct-ion of the device except to the limited extent of the change of the denoting amount upon the stamp.

If required, the plunger 16 of the stamping mechanism may be actuated by any suitable power other than by hand, as will be obvious, but as the means for actuating the stamping mechanism does not constitute a part of the present invention, it is not deemed necessary to illustrate.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is 1. A postage imprinting apparatus, in cluding a casing having an opening for the insertion of mail matter, a reciprocating imprinting device, a rotatable member disposed within the casing and having an abutment thereon, means for giving a step by step rotation to said member upon each actuation of the imprinting device whereby to carry the abutment in a circular path from an initial position to a final position, and a stop projecting into the path of movement of the abutment and so disposed as to engage the abutment when it reaches its final position and prevent the further movement of the rotatable member in the same direction, said stop being shiftable out of said path of movement whereby to permitthe rotatable member to be shifted to carry the abutment from its final position to its initial position.

2. A postage imprinting apparatus, com prising a casing having an opening for the insertion of mail matter and being provided with a door on one side, a reciprocating im printing device within the casing, a rota table member, a step by step mechanism for actuating said rotatable member upon. each actuation of the imprinting device, a stud projecting from the rotatable member, a spring-actuated pawl for preventing a reverse movement of said member, and a stop formed with a hooked end, the hooked end projecting into the path of movement of said stud, the hooked end of said stop being shiftable out of said path of movement.

3. A postage imprinting apparatus, in cluding a casing having an opening for the insertion of mail matter, a reciprocating imprinting device, a rotatable member inclosed within said casing, a stud projecting from said member, means for giving a step by step movement to said rotatable member on each actuation of the imprinting device whereby to carry the stud in a circular path from an initial position to a final position, and a stop having a hooked end disposed in the path of movement of said stud and so located as to engage the stud when it reaches its final position, said stop being shiftably supported and thereby adapted to be moved out of the path of movement of the stud whereby to permit the rotatable member to be shifted in the same direction to carry the stop from its final position to its initial position.

4. A postage imprinting apparatus, comprising a relatively rectangular casing having a slot for the insertion of mail matter, a reciprocating imprinting device within the casing, a support for said device forming a stop for positioning the mail matter with regard to said imprinting device, a train of multiplying gears located within the easing, a ratchet wheel forming a driving means for said multiplying gears, a springactuated pawl engaged with said ratchet wheel to prevent reverse movement thereof, a lever having engagement with the imprinting device and provided with a springactuated pawl for giving movement to the ratchet wheel upon each reciprocation of the lever, a stud projecting from the last gear gear Wheels driven from the ratchet Wheel, a stud on the last gear Wheel of the train, a stop having a hooked end normally projecting into the path of movement of the stud, said stop being mounted to permit 20 its hooked end to be shifted out, of said path of movement, the casing being provided With a door open adj aeent to the stop.

In testimony whereof, I aifix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

THOMAS M. BELKNAP. 14.5.

Vitnesses:

EARLE SHERMAN,

W. H. WARE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

